GAME NOTES: The Citadel @ Samford (Jan. 23, 2021)
Complete game release in PDF format

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Coach Bucky McMillan and the Samford University men's basketball concludes its five-game home stand on Saturday, Jan. 23 versus The Citadel (8-4, 1-4 SoCon). Tipoff is set for 2 PM at the Pete Hanna Center. ESPN+ will offer complete coverage with Curt Bloom and Boyd Kaiser on the call. 

Saturday's game is the 26th in the series and the first of two this year. The Bulldogs (6-8, 2-5 SoCon), who lead the series standings 13-12, have won nine of the last 10 meetings with The Citadel, including a 74-62 victory in their last matchup on Feb. 15, 2020 in Charleston, S.C.

The Citadel, one of the top scoring teams in the country at 89.1 points per game and the clubhouse leader in the SoCon, has dropped four straight after starting the season 8-0. The Bulldogs fell 83-63 to Mercer on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at the McAlister Fieldhouse and 87-73 earlier in the week to UNCG.

Hayden Brown and Kaiden Rice power the Bulldogs' offensive attack, combining to score 40.5 of The Citadel's 89.1 points per game. Brown, a 6-5 senior forward from Greer, S.C., leads the team and the SoCon with 21.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game followed by Rice, a 6-7 senior guard from Columbia, S.C., with 19.0 points per game.

The Citadel enters Saturday's game second in the league in scoring margin (+11.4) while Samford, which averages 80.6 points per game, is ninth (+2.5). 

Defensively, Samford will have to focus on defending the 3-pointer, as The Citadel leads the SoCon in 3-point FG percentage (40.8). 


SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS:

• Freshman point guard Jaron Rillie made his first career start for the Bulldogs on Wednesday, Jan. 20 versus Chattanooga. The 6-3 freshman from Santa Barbara, Calif., dished out five assists and chipped in five points versus the Mocs. Rillie is averaging 3.4 points and 2.5 assists per game entering Saturday's contest with The Citadel. 
• Christian Guess, a 6-6 junior guard from Cleveland, Ohio, is narrowly missing a double-double on the season after averaging 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. The North Idaho College transfer has scored in double digits in ever game he's played this year, including a career-high 22 points versus Alabama A&M. He currently ranks 11th in scoring and fourth in rebounding in the SoCon.    
• A.J. Staton-McCray, a 6-5 freshman from Charlotte, N.C., continues to be one of the most productive newcomers in the SoCon, averaging 10.5 points and 4.1 rebounds a game. He scored a career-high 23 points, making 7-of-8 shots from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point range, in Samford's 133-84 win over Belhaven.  
• Junior forward Logan Dye, a 6-8 forward from Haleyville, Ala., is averaging 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game coming into Saturday's game with The Citadel. He scored a career-high 21 points in the season-opener versus Alabama A&M. Dye finished with 11 points and six rebounds in Monday's win over Western Carolina. He added 13 points and three rebounds on Wednesday versus Chattanooga.  
• Jalen Dupree, a 6-8 senior forward from Cordova, Tenn., had found his stride after an early injury delayed his start to the year. Dupree has played in SU's last eight games, starting four, averaging 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.  
• Sharp-shooting guard Triston Chambers has topped the 600 career point plateau this year with 624. The sharp-shooting guard is second on the team with 22 made 3-pointers. The Cold Springs, Ala., native, is averaging 6.0 points per game. He posted a season-best 21 points earlier this year versus Belhaven.   
• Richardson Maitre a 6-3 senior point guard from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has started all 13 games for the Bulldogs since transferring from Florida Atlantic. The speedy guard is averaging 6.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for Samford. Maitre had 12 points and three assists in SU's last outing versus UNCG.
• Senior Preston Parks started the season a little slowly, but has turned it on of late. The Greenville, S.C., native, scored 13 points at Wofford after a career-high 15 versus VMI. He is averaging 6.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. After his eight point performance versus UNCG, Parks topped the 1,000 career point plateau across his time at The Citadel, Tennessee-Martin and Samford.  
• Myron Gordon, a 6-3 senior guard from Bordentown, N.J., sustained an undisclosed injury versus UNCG on Thursday, Jan. 14. Gordon did not play against the Spartans on Saturday, Jan. 16. The slashing guard is leading the team in scoring, averaging 15.6 ppg to rank eighth in the league. Gordon, a two-time SoCon Player of the Week, scored a career-high 29 points at Georgia.
• Samford enters Saturday's game with The Citadel averaging 80.6 points per game, ranking 5th in the SoCon.
• The Bulldogs are holding opponents to 42.0 percent from the field. Samford currently ranks fifth in FG percentage defense in the SoCon.
• Samford has been tenacious on the glass this season, averaging 39.9 rebounds per game. The Bulldogs are second in the league on the glass trailing only UNCG (41.9).
• The Bulldogs are sharing the wealth, averaging g 16.6 assists per game to rank fourth in the league. 
• Samford's success this season has been fueled by the offensive production of its non-starters, who have outscored the opposition 559-219. In a 98-73 win over Covenant, the Bulldogs bench outscored the Scots, 48-21, and in a 96-83 win at Belmont, SU held a dominating 64-4 edge in bench scoring. In Saturday's heartbreaking loss at Georgia, the Bulldogs bench outscored UGA 44-19. In Saturday's win at Kennesaw State, the Bulldog bench dominated the scoring, 37-7. SU had it's largest bench scoring margin of the season, 94-21, in a 133-84 win over Belhaven. 
• Arguably one of the nation's most distinct brands of basketball, #BuckyBall, has come to Samford with new head coach Bucky McMillan. The former standout at Birmingham Southern won 332 games and five Alabama state championships in 13 seasons as head coach at Mountain Brook High School. The up-tempo, in your face style of play became a staple in Birmingham, as MBHS transformed into a national power. McMillan has been named "Coach of the Year" 12 times in his career, including 2019 USA Today National Coach of the Year.